Floor cleaning devices typically comprise a frame, a number of motor-driven rotary pads or brushes, a motor, and a handle pivotally mounted to the frame. The rotary pads or brushes repetitively abrade the surface of a floor as a worker, using the pivotally mounted handle, guides the apparatus over the floor.
Damage to furniture and walls can result if there is inadvertent contact with the scrubbing mechanism. And, with modern machines having drive blocks that rotate at high speeds, there is a tendency for liquid from the floor to splash onto nearby objects. Workers must therefore spend time and effort to avoid damaging objects in the work area and must clean the residue of splashed liquid from walls, furniture and the like.
Floor cleaning machines may also be hazardous to the operator because the rotary cleaning pads or brushes can entangle the machine's power cord. In the presence of cleaning solution contact with the power cord may result in electric shock to the worker.
There are devices intended to prevent damage to work areas resulting from contact with floor cleaning machines and from cleaning solution splash. These are scrubber guards that surround the scrubbing mechanism of a scrubbing machine. Many prior scrubber guards are limited by the fact that they are either directly attached to, or are intended for use with, a particular machine. Examples of such devices can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,153,251, 4,510,643 and 4,903,364.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,122,769 (Doersam) describes a splash guard that is not attached to floor cleaning apparatus. Doersam's splash guard is made of a rigid, plastic material comprising a smooth annular wall having a rigid flange located adjacent one edge. The flange extends outwardly from and at a right angle to the exterior surface of the wall. Doersam's guard also includes oppositely disposed notch portions that permit the ingress and egress of cleaning solution to and from the region enclosed by the guard.
A rigid, free-floating splash guard tips when pushed against an object on the exterior of the guard, unless the scrubbing machine contacts the guard at a location that is directly opposite the location where the guard contacts the exterior object. When such a guard tips, liquid splash occurs and the guard fails to perform its intended function.
Doersam's guard addressed this problem by extending the rigid horizontal flange outwardly from the exterior surface of the guard. The flange contacts a wall or baseboard before the guard does. This prevents tipping if the force exerted by the baseboard on the exterior surface of the guard is directly opposed by the force applied by the scrubbing machine to the interior surface of the guard. Doersam's guard is intended for use on both hard surface floors and carpet by flipping the guard over. When the flange is not resting on the floor, the force applied by the cleaning machine to the interior surface of the guard may not be directly opposed by a force applied to the exterior surface of the guard. Thus, the problems associated with guard tipping are not alleviated by Doersam's splash guard.
The rigid construction of Doersam's splash guard and outwardly extending flange also prevents the splash guard from conforming to obstacles and work areas. This in turn prevents the cleaning machine from entering work areas smaller than the guard but otherwise accessible to the cleaning machine.